“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him” Psalm 37:7a (ESV)
My dog has developed a curious habit based on faulty assumptions.
Being a well-trained pet owner, I respond to her cues dutifully. Her whining and twirling antics as my feet touch the bedroom floor each morning mean she needs outside – urgently! I hurry to open the kitchen door, watching as she runs down the deck stairs into the backyard.
Soon she reappears, thumping the door with her front paws or giving a quick bark. I understand she’s anxious to get inside for her breakfast. I promptly open the door and fill her little bowls with fresh food and water.
She watches, sitting just outside her dining room (aka the laundry room) until I place her dishes back in their stand and say, “okay.” Charging to her bowls like a racehorse from the starting gate, her tail wags her body as she wolfs down her morning meal.
Following breakfast, it’s time for treats. She backs up and stays and I toss her a tiny treat. She crawls and I toss her another. She sits up, shakes hands, high-fives, and rolls over and I dispense a treat after each trick. Her grand finale, playing dead, ends when I release her with the word “okay.” She springs to her feet and I launch a tiny shower of celebratory treats. After sniffing the floor to ensure she hasn’t missed one, she curls into her little pillow and rests from the demands of running me through the morning routine.
Lately, however, she doesn’t rest long. She has incorrectly concluded life with me is a series of if/then transactions and she’s in charge. If she gives a cue, then I’ll respond appropriately. She’s recently begun testing her hypothesis by repeating the steps that, in dog logic at least, should result in me serving her a second breakfast. If she tells me she needs to go outside (now skipping the part where she actually runs down the steps into the yard; after all, it is just a drill) and asks to be let back in, then I should once again fill her food dish.
Her happy, expectant demeanor quickly shifts to dejected disappointment when she discovers I’ve failed to respond and the food bowl remains empty. Sadly, since she gains weight easily, her food dish won’t be refilled until 5pm, regardless of the repeated attempts to sway me. She doesn’t understand my lack of immediate action is because I care about her. It is because I love her that I don’t respond each time she wants to be fed. Waiting isn’t her strong suit.
The same can be true of us. We’re often certain we know what we want or need and get our relationship with God a little backwards. Have you ever in prayer, found yourself telling God (or strongly suggesting) what needs to happen and when? Waiting doesn’t come naturally to us, either. That’s when we need to set aside our faulty assumptions and shift our focus to the truths of God’s character. As we remember his great love for us and place our trust in his sovereignty, we find patience is the remarkable by-product, a fruit of the Spirit. As Psalm 37 reminds us, it is by anchoring ourselves in the knowledge that his will and timing are always perfect, that we can rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him.
Prayer: Lord, thank you that you are an omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent God. You know my needs and concerns even before I ask. Thank you that I can trust fully in your faithfulness and love. Help me walk in patience and wisdom, Lord, knowing your timing is perfect. Amen
